Atanas Laskov

Determination

November 25, 2018 20:40 GMT

In executing personal goals one should act with passionate determination, consisting of the following elements:

Obliteration of fear, including fear of failure and all other fears;
Obliteration of ill feelings towards the self;
Total dedication, with all of heart and mind, to the task at hand;
Passionate confidence in the power of the self;
Passionate confidence in the successful accomplishment of the task at hand.

When the physical body of the person is threatened, then and only then fear is rational; It should be made clear this is a very different type of fear. Body fear. It is so different, that a distinct word should be used for it. Body fear, arising from the natural instinct to safeguard the physical body. „Fear” as referred here, has no relation to immediate physical danger; it is psychological fear.

I've tested this in practice. For example, my drawing benefits by these principles. I have also passed exams driven by passionate determination, which is akin to Samurai attitude, and slightly weird but effective. There is no limit to the power of a determined person, one who has the knowledge and the will power to act in a good state of the mind.

Achieve all five. At the same time. Following any one of the five elements is helpful, but true liberation and strength comes only in their unity.

One starts by examining his person, detecting fear, detecting ill feelings and destroying them energetically. One should do that very often, for instance at the beginning of each day he has to perform important work.

Next, having been liberated from fears and ill feelings, he or she should strive for dedication. For the strong one (i.e. the Samurai) there is only his chosen task. He is now in service of that task. He has reasoned out and analyzed, he therefore understands what is to be done. The only step that remains is actually doing it. It is a question now of treasuring every moment, exisiting fully in the moment of action.

It is of critical importance and often neglected, that one should look in your own self, your emotions. Are there remnants of doubt? They are discarded. The heart of the person is purged of doubts. Then and only then is the person (I avoid saying Samurai, but this the kind of attitude really), actively calls passionate confidence. Purity and dedication, justly result in confidence of your power. Consequently, the good outcome is invoked into physical reality.

In performing this last step it helps to remember past good results having been achieved in such ways. As one continues this practice, passionate confidence will naturally come easier over time.

You must enter the virtuous cycle by destroying the vicious cycle. There is no middle ground. One is either inhibited by a bad state of the mind (fear, ill feelings towards self and others, distractedness and defeatist attitude), or one is helped by the good things. In view of this, there remains only one rational choice. Namely, that of passionate determination.

The strong person (i.e. the Samurai) becomes a follower to this philosophy, this analysis, choice of tasks and actions. The mind is one with the task (i.e. one with the sword). Beyond the task there is nothingness.

In society. I often forget to pay attention to the social things, and treat them with chaotic ignorance. My ill feelings towards the self are destroyed in my personal actions, but I am easily affected by such as other humans come in conflict with my person.

But it is the same really, one must first recognize bad feelings first. Next, one recognizes irrational thinking. In order to do this, he should be always mindfully aware (in the precise Buddhist sense of the term) and destroy bad feelings, self-loathing and hatred.

Furthermore, why do these emotions appear? One should ask this, look into himself for the root of the thing. As the root is destroyed it will become less and less often that bad feelings afflict personality. The vicious cycle loosens. Entering the virtuous and good state of mind becomes easier with practice.